Roy Halladay on Cole Hamels-Bryce Harper rivalry: “I think at this point what’s done is done and you move on.”
May 24, 2012 – 6:00 am by Steven Cuce
For reasons that only he knows, Cole Hamels decided it was his job to welcome Bryce Harper to the big leagues. The Phillies left-hander two-and-half weeks ago hit Harper in the back with a pitch and earned himself a five-game suspension after admitting that he indeed hit the Nationals rookie on purpose.
Roy Halladay, the ace of the Phillies pitching staff, has never been know for throwing at opposing hitters. No.34 is having a pedestrian year for his standards sitting at 4-4 with 3.58 ERA. The Phils are looking to get back on the winning track consistently here at the quarter mark of the baseball season.
Roy Halladay joined The Dan Patrick Show to discuss how much he can argue balls and strikes with an umpire, the percentage of umpires that think baseball fans come to see them at games, Cole Hamels/Bryce Harper moving past their confrontation from a few weeks ago, hitting a rookie batter as a welcoming gesture and his pick for the best pitcher in baseball.
What are you allowed to say to an umpire as a pitcher and catcher?
“That’s tough. I think a lot of the time depending on the umpire you can ask them. I think as soon as you start telling them then you are in trouble. There’s different guys that you can be a little more upfront with and they are okay with it. Other guys aren’t. I think that is the tough part is a lot of times you don’t know who those guys are and one may be different than the next. That’s definitely a tough part of it and I understand they get criticized a lot and probably don’t appreciate it, but as a pitcher you want your catcher to at least feel like he saying look just trying to get him to be a little bit accountable and he gets rung like that. That’s a tough one to follow.”
Give me a percentage of umpires that think fans come to the games to see them?
“I would say it’s few. Most of them that I have had have been very good. There’s a couple that like throwing guys out and getting into confrontations and they always seem to be in the middle of things. There’s a few of those guys and I don’t know if that is a reason and if they want to be seen or what. I think the number is probably lower than players and coaches probably say.”
Cole Hamels-Bryce Harper part two tonight? What do you think?
“Nothing. I don’t know on their part, but I would guess both sides have said what they have said. I think both sides…I think their GM [Nationals] and obviously Cole were penalized for those things. I think at this point what’s done is done and you move on. I really don’t see a whole lot going on from that standpoint other than the competition on the field of one trying to get a hit and one trying to get an out, but I don’t see a whole lot outside of that.”
Have you ever welcomed someone to the big leagues like that?
“I have not. There’s probably a few guys I would have liked to, but I just never did. [Dan Patrick: Like who?] Unfortunately the guys I would have liked to were already there before me and I couldn’t do it.”
Best pitcher in baseball is who?
“Justin Verlander. [Dan Patrick: What makes you go wow when you see him?] First thing is he has the stuff. You have seen that for a long time. I think what I have seen recently out of him is that he has been able to control it and dial it down at times and then add when he needs to. I don’t think you see the 100 mph every single pitch. You see him pitch it and work through lineups and he’s taken that overpowering stuff and become a pitcher with it and that’s a tough combination when you have both of those.”
Listen to Roy Halladay on The Dan Patrick Show here [Interview begins at the 14:38 mark of the podcast]
Tags: Bryce Harper, Cole Hamels, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Roy Halladay, The Dan Patrick Show
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May 24, 2012: Rich Hofmann: The Phillies’ Cole standard – Philadelphia Inquirer | Danta Report
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